Lost
by acts29forchrist
Summary: Toryn and Aleah stick together in everything. When they are told by a hellhound they are demigods, he's okay, but Aleah needs more answers than what she's getting. Now a virus has suddenly taken over Camp Half-Blood, and Toryn and Aleah are the only two who can help find a cure, but how can they be sure if they barely know what they're up against? (Collab with the Aurum Writers)
1. When you meet a hellhound

**Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson Series, sadly, isn't ours to own.**

* * *

~Toryn~

"Hey," A soft voice said quietly. But, the room was so silent it seemed loud. Although if one could call the room silent, they would be wrong. The sound that penetrated the absolute silence was a sound that I hated, the sound of the machine giving my mom life support. It was a constant marching-like sound, always going up and down, kind of like a washing machine, but more depressing because it was someone's life. I turned to the voice.

"Hey," I said, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. It was Aleah. "What are you doing here?" She glanced at Mom, and then sat down in the chair next to mine. She chose the wrong time to come and visit me. My eyes were still stinging from tears of having to let my mom go. She had lung cancer, and had gotten to the state of death. She was living only by the annoying machine giving her air and helping her heart pump properly. She hadn't woken up for three weeks now, and according to the oncologist, the doctor for cancer, she was practically dead already.

They had come to me with the contract for me to sign. The contract would tell them that I had agreed to take her off of life support. The clipboard was still being held in my shaking hands. I felt like I was holding my Mom by holding that piece of paper. My hands were hot and sweaty from the stress. Aleah looked down at the contract, and then back up at me. Her eyes were deep blue, always moving like a tidal wave. She frowned.

"I'm sorry," were the only words she managed to say. I didn't say anything in reply. I looked down at the printed line where I had to sign my name. I had been staring at it for seemingly hours now, at least that's how much time it felt like. I managed to catch a tear on my hand before it stained the paper. I picked up the pen and signed my name. Toryn Cappella. My hands shook slightly, and I had to lace my fingers together to conceal it. Why had I done that? What if some sort of miracle happened and she would have lived? These thoughts swarmed in my mind, even though I knew that she couldn't have survived anyway.

I stood up and gestured for Aleah to follow me even though I was still having mixed feelings about this. I went to the front desk of the floor, and handed the lady the clipboard. Then we walked back into my mom's room. Eventually the nurses came in, and turned the machines off. The only sound was the sound of the heart monitor slowing down gradually. I looked at my mom's face once more, her red hair (or what was left of it), her always fair skin, and her eyelids covering her chocolate brown eyes. I looked down at the ground, and said nothing when the heart monitor stopped beeping, indicating that my mom no longer was. She was gone. Forever. I would never hear her voice again, or see the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed. My mother's soul had moved on, and all that was left was the hollow corpse.

I stood there in silence, Aleah by my side, saying nothing for a moment. After the people had came in and taken my mother's body away, I still had no words. I...was alone. I had no more family. I didn't know what to do or think. The fact that she was truly gone hit me in the face, knocking the wind out of me. She was never coming back.

"I-I j-just," I tried to say, but the words seemed to get clogged in my throat and unable to be said. Aleah placed her gentle hand on my shoulder. I couldn't help it anymore. I started sobbing. Not very mature of me, but I did just lose my mom. My sight was flooded with pain and agony.

"What can I do, Aleah?" I looked at her, and saw that her eyes were tearing up too. "What am I..." She wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm so sorry, Toryn," she whispered, "You don't deserve this." Slowly, I found myself embracing her in my arms. "I'm so sorry." She said to me soothingly, over and over again.

That was a long time ago.

A very long time ago. The events that followed were anything but ordinary and almost as bad.

* * *

~Aleah~

It's hard to forget when you best friend goes into a cave and never comes out. When he does come out, for necessities such as school and meals, you can tell that he's trying to stuff his negative feelings in a box… which in my opinion, isn't a very good way to do it. I tried to talk to him about it, but I realized negotiating doesn't work with Toryn. It's heart-breaking to watch him go through all this pain and misery. I wanted to help him climb out of the shell he shut himself into, but I didn't know how. It seemed that everything I did just made the situation worse.

I stood in front of Toryn's dorm room, ready to knock and try to coax him out of his misery again. I took a quick intake of breath in surprise when the door opened by itself. Toryn looked down at me warily, his green eyes looking as broken as ever.

"Hey, Toryn…" I said awkwardly, not used to him coming out of his room by his own free will. He looked so different, and he had bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. "Are you okay?" I knew what the answer was.

Almost immediately, he replied. "Yes, of course." The answer sounded like it had been rehearsed, which it probably had been, seeing as though he said that every time I asked that question for a year now.

We stood facing each other in an awkward silence. His expression seemed to tell me that he wanted me to notice something. Something different. I searched his person, looking for a difference. I came up with nothing. After a few more seconds of standing there awkwardly, I heard a growling noise, out of nowhere. It sounded like a cow and a wolf mixed together.

I pushed Toryn aside and invited myself into his room. Something in the corner caught my eye, and I leaped back in fright - gracefully, I might add - and shrieked - not so gracefully. Toryn looked at me and smirked, a little bit of his old self back. I looked up hopefully, just to see his face falling back to before: gloomy, miserable, and broken. My hopeful feelings were replaced with heartache. I wanted the old, carefree, completely random Toryn back. Then a bell rang in my head, reminding me that there was a thing in his room.

"What is that… that thing?" I yelled, pointing a shaking finger at the creature.

He raised an eyebrow. "A little slow, aren't we? And that is not a thing. It's a…" He trailed off, and seemed hesitant to tell me.

"What? It's a what?" I asked, feeling a little bad for pressing him on, but wanting to know. Its red eyes were locked on mine, and I tried to look away from its glare but couldn't. It started growling at me. I backed up a little.

"It's okay Griffon, she's a friend," Toryn said getting in between me and what he called "Griffon".

"Oh, and that is a friend?" I said, still petrified by the thing. "What type of animal is that?" I yelled almost a little too loudly.

"You're gonna get us in trouble," he said in a more quiet tone. "He's harmless."

"He?" I asked, "Who is he?"

"I don't like her," Griffon growled. My jaw dropped. I was pretty sure that wolves, dogs, or whatever it was were not supposed to be able to communicate with humans. There was no way he had just talked. I had to have imagined the whole thing. It was just a normal wolf… thing.

"Um… Toryn are you sure that thing is friendly?

"Of course I am, Aleah."

"Then what is it?"

"Well I'll ask. Griffon what are you?". Toryn then looked at it. The thing smiled, revealing sharp teeth that looked like they wanted to cut deep into your skin at any moment.

"I am a hellhound trained for helping Hades and finding half-bloods," the… hellhound? said matter-of-factly, like it was something it did every day. Like, "Hi! My name is Bob. I go around helping Hades and finding half-bloods!" Right. Normal.

"Half-bloods?" I asked.

Toryn turned towards me, "Half-bloods are half human, half god."

"Yes, that is correct. I sniffed out your demigod scent." We both turned to Griffon.

"What?!" We said in unison. He sniffed out our scent?

I turned to Toryn. "You didn't know?"

Toryn raised his eyebrows, "He didn't tell me everything. Sheesh."

I turned back to Griffon. "What do you mean by… sniffed out our demigod scent?"

Griffon shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "You heard me. You guys are both half-bloods. By the way, with both of you guys going to the same school, your smell is intoxicating, and basically screams 'Demigod!'. It's a wonder why monsters haven't begun hunting you down yet."

This can't be real, half-bloods and demigods? They were just myths. "You believe the hellhound?" I asked incredulously.

Toryn just stared back at me, "Of course I do". And that was that. My best friend was insane. He had gone delusional. I had gone delusional. This whole situation was messed up.

"You believe the... the thing?" I said, raising my voice to make sure he understood what I was asking.

"Hellhound!" Griffon growled at me.

"Gesundheit!" I said randomly, but then went back to Toryn. "This isn't real!"

"Well, the hellhound is talking," Toryn pointed out.

"Toryn! Wake up! Please, I'm begging you."

"You know, maybe I'm tired of not having anyone there for me. Maybe I'm tired of all these blank answers!" I didn't have a response for that one. I was sick of not knowing the whole story too, but being a… a demigod! For crying out loud! It was out of the picture. And the worst part was I couldn't deny that I had hears the hell-whatever it was, thing talk. I couldn't handle this.

"No," I said. "You're going back to where you came from, where ever that is, and we are going to forget that any of this ever happened." I walked out the door, and didn't stop to hear what Toryn said.

* * *

~Toryn~

"Just wait a second..." I said, but my voice trailed off when Aleah left the room. The door slammed behind her causing a loud thud. I sighed, and sat down on my bed.

"She seems friendly," Griffon said. I smirked.

"She normally is. Maybe she just..." I stopped talking when my head started to hurt. Then the pain turned into torture, a torture I was familiar with. No, not again! I thought as my vision was suddenly blurred by a flashing white light. I could hear Griffon calling my name in the distance, but I was completely under the trance.

Aleah was walking to her room, and lied down on her bed. She was muttering to herself when a shadow started to lure over her. There was a flapping… of black leathery wings. She tried to run, but was unsuccessful. The creature started to attack her.

I gasped, waking up from the vision. I looked at Griffon, who looked confused at what had just happened, but then I ran out of my room.

"Where are you going?!" He yelled, chasing after me.

I tore through the hallway. I've got to warn Aleah. These visions happened a lot. They might've been happy, they might've been sad. They might've been exciting, they might've been dreadful. Whatever they were, they always came true. I kept running until I stopped in front of...

"AHHHHHHHH!" Aleah screamed and suddenly the door tore open and she ran out crashing into me.

Something black with leather-like wings was coming forward. "Little demigod, give me your power," it chanted. I had to act fast, so I pushed Aleah out of the way and stood in front of her by instinct.

A little distance away, I heard Griffon running down the hall. "Move out of the way!" He yelled while bounding towards me.

He growled, jumping onto the black thing with bat-like wings, snapping its jaws down. I winced, closed my eyes, waiting for the blood. Strangely, I felt like I was being covered in flour. I re-opened my eyes and saw myself, Aleah, and Griffon covered with this yellow powder dust.

"Gross…" Aleah tried to wipe herself clean.

"Awesome!" I yelled. Griffon snorted.

"Now, we gotta get outta here. There are definitely gonna be way more coming soon." The hellhound looked around, then bounded forward. "Here, I'll lead you guys to camp."

"Camp what?" I asked.

"Camp Half-Blood. You're safe there - mostly." I did not like the sound of that.

"How're we gonna get there?"

"Shadow travel. You two, get on my back. Now. I smell monster." He knelt down and we clambered on.

We barely climbed onto Griffon's back when a huge figure, disgusting and nasty and with one eye, roared, "OVER HERE! I SEE TASTY HALF-BLOODS!"

Before we could react, Griffon ran straight at a wall. We screamed as we hit pure shadow and dissolved.

* * *

~Aleah~

We held on for dear life as we went on what felt like the longest, scariest, fastest roller coaster ride in the world.

Eventually, we emerged into a tree's shadow. It left a strange feeling in one's stomach. A creature that looked like a human with elfish features, green skin, and looked like a girl looked at us and called, "Grover! They're here!"

Another person ran at us. Finally, another normal thing! I thought. Then, I realized that he had furry legs and hooves. Oh.

"Finally! Thanks, Griffon. No one else could get near them," the thing with goat legs and hooves panted.

"What… what are you guys?" I questioned. The goat-man huffed.

"I'm a satyr, part goat, part human. My name is Grover. My job is to protect the wild and find half-bloods around the world," he explained.

"He's very good at it," the elfish girl looked at him affectionately. Grover blushed.

"This is Juniper, my girlfriend," Grover introduced her. She raised a small hand and waved.

I looked up and noticed that a bunch of people had started crowding around us. The attention their eyes were producing was too much for me. I hated being in any sort of spotlight. The only person I was comfortable with was Toryn. It took me a couple of seconds for me to notice that they were looking above my head. I turned to Toryn and he too seemed surprised at whatever was above my head. I looked up, and was startled to see a blue glowing light. It had an image in it… a trident.

A girl with blond hair and striking gray eyes pushed through the crowd. She gasped, and said, "Chiron! Look!" Then I saw a man riding a white horse coming our way. Oh no, I thought, You have got to be kidding me. He wasn't riding a horse, he was the horse! Well sort of, his upper body was that of a man, and then the rest was a horse's body.

"Well this certainly is an interesting turn of events," the… what was it again? - oh, centaur - said. Still, I grew impatient.

"What?" I demanded. "Just what in the world is going on around here? Who are you people? Why are you all so strange? Am I dreaming?"

The girl with the gray eyes (it was easier to remember her eyes than her hair, for some reason - did she like it that way?) answered rapidly, "We'll explain later, we are all a group of half-bloods, we'll explain later, and no, you're not dreaming. Hey, Percy! You have a sister!"

"Oh, what else is new?" I mumbled to myself.

"What? Da-ad!" A guy's voice whined. He pushed his way through the crowd. I gasped when I saw him.

He had sea-green eyes, tousled black hair, and looked like a definite troublemaker. That didn't catch my attention. He literally was in my dreams. For some reason, whenever I had slept recently, I would see that face. I'd seen it before, but never in person. And now to actually see him was like...wow!

"Well, hello, little sis. Nice to meet you," he grinned at me. Then he looked around. Everyone was staring at me, stunned, except for Toryn. He didn't look very surprised.

"What? Aren't you gonna welcome her?" he asked the crowd.

Hastily, everyone knelt down, and the centaur said, "All hail Aleah Meriel, daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes."

I just stared at them.

"Hey, why don't you two come with us?" The guy - I mean, my brother - beckoned me to him and the girl. "It's always hard on the first day. I nearly had a mental breakdown from all of the names, places, things, you know."

Toryn hung back, looking awkward.

"You too, man," he called Toryn over.

A wave of relief washed over me. At least I wouldn't be completely alone, in a way. This was crazy. First I'm related to a god, then I'm kidnapped by a hellhound, I meet a man -NOPE- its a centaur, and then I meet my long lost brother! This was just weird, but still I figured I didn't have a choice but to follow Percy.

As we walked around, we stared at the things that we saw. Houses, people, food, places, a forest that had noises coming out of it, yet I wasn't scared. It almost felt natural.

Finally, we came to the cabins. First, we went into the Zeus and Hera cabins. Of course, since they ruled the gods, they wouldn't be happy with us if they weren't first.

We got to the girl-with-the-gray-eyes' cabin. She opened the door for us. A guy, her sibling, probably, sat at a desk, working on some sort of document.

"Hey, Annabeth," he called.

So, her name was Annabeth. I noticed she stood next to that guy, Percy, and how he put his arm across her shoulder, he was probably her boyfriend. Also, their protectiveness of each other conveyed that they had been through a lot together.

I took a close look at Annabeth. She had an athletic figure and was slender. Her honey-blond hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she had an orange T-shirt that said "Camp Half-Blood" on it, just like the rest of the people. Her stormy grey eyes were the color of a tornado, and had a calculating gleam to them, as if she were evaluating my strengths and weaknesses. It was intimidating, to say the least. However, when Percy squeezed her hand, her eyes softened, and they reminded me of a kitten - soft, gray, and content. She looked around sixteen or seventeen, and stood at about five foot six, roughly estimating.

Percy looked the same age, but taller. His eyes had that same special sparkle when he stood close to her, and looked perfectly happy, too.

I looked at him, and realized how much we looked alike. We both had black hair, except my eyes were ocean blue rather than sea-green, but still they looked the same. Whenever I smiled, before Toryn's mother died, at least, I would have that same sparkle in my eyes.

"And this..." Percy said, grunting a little as he opened another cabin door, "...is Cabin Three. Our cabin." It was rather simple for the cabin of a major god, but when I looked back to what my dorm looked like, this was heaven. Simply perfect, and it somehow fit all of my preferences. The walls were a watery blue, with a hint of sea-green and silver tresses. There was one bed in the cabin, to the side, but the covers were blue and everything matched. Well, sort of. There was a salt water fountain in the corner. I knew it was salt water, for some reason. It made me feel stronger, more powerful, more at ease. On the windowsills, there were strange-looking plants - coral, I guessed, in water-filled vases. The windows themselves had a perfect view of the Long Island Sound.

"I'll let you two settle in, and have some alone time to get to know each other better." Annabeth said, walking out the door.

Percy stared at the door for a second, but then turned back to me. I didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone after you learn they're your half-brother? I thought about it for a moment and came up without an answer. Whatever. I shrugged to my thoughts.

"So, whatcha shruggin' about?" Percy asked me, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He seemed to be thinking hard about this. I giggled a little bit because of his efforts.

"Oh, nothing. Just to the voices inside my head," I shrugged again.

"Wait, what kind of voices?"

"Um, my conscience?" He let out a small sigh of relief. What was he so tense about? "You're acting weird."

"I get that a lot. I'm guessing you didn't bring anything with you?" He asked.

"I was kidnapped," I said in reply. He smirked.

"You mean by Griffon? He's alright," Percy grinned. Everyone here acted so… normal, but it wasn't normal. I started to get affected by the dust inside of the cabin, and a bad cough came up my throat. Well, at least that was normal."Are you okay?"

I nodded while covering my mouth to keep another cough from racing through, and took my inhaler out of my pocket. At least I hadn't left that. I could sense Percy watching me as I took in two sips of air. I've always had asthma, and now I had a general idea why. Zeus was mad at me for who knows what reason, so he made the air bring trouble for me. Great, I thought, I'm starting to believe in this stuff.

"Asthma?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said as I put my inhaler away. I looked and saw that there was only one bed in the cabin. I pointed at it, and said, "Um, is that gonna be rearranged?" Percy turned his attention to the bed, and his eyes grew.

"Uh, yeah. I'll let Chiron know," he said as he scratched the back of his head. He seemed to be having the same trouble I was. He sat down on the blue bed, and rolled his thumbs. He stared at the ground for a second, but then his eyes lit up

"Do you wanna see something cool?" Percy asked.

"Why not?" I said, sitting down next to him. He was my brother after all. Then he pulled out a pen. I furrowed my eyebrows. "It's a fountain pen." I said slowly.

"No! Well sure I use it for school sometimes, but it's much more than that. It's Riptide. Watch..." He said as he uncapped it. I flinched back a little when suddenly a glowing bronze sword appeared in his hand.

"What...? Where'd the pen go?" I asked, looking around the floor.

"This is the pen," he said holding the sword up, "Well, it transformed into a sword."

"How?"

"It's a magic item. Dad gave it to me," Percy said, staring at his reflection in the sword. How did he know that the god of the sea gave it to him? "You'll get one too. Most likely."

"A sword?" I asked, having trouble imaging myself using a weapon.

"No. Well, maybe..." He trailed off and thought about his word choice. "What I'm trying to say is that you'll get a magic item." A magic item? I never thought that magical items existed, let alone be able to own one.

"Yeah," he said. "You gotta own a magical item if you want to survive."

Well, that was brilliant. I was sure that there would be no magical item at all that would suit me. Most likely, I would die within a few minutes of a battle. I would rather just sit down in the corner to my own thoughts, reading a book alone with no one to disturb me.

"Don't worry, there'll be something," Percy added. "Besides, we have training here at camp. At night, we have a campfire and sing-along."

I brightened at that. "Can we see the rest of the camp now?" I begged, doing my best puppy-dog face.

He laughed. "You look exactly like me when I do that," he told me. "Fine, let's hurry."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The rest of the day went by in a flash. I barely got to see Toryn, though, and that sucked. Before we knew it, it was time for the campfire. Percy had showed me the entire camp, including the Oracle of Delphi's cave, and taught me how to control water. All I needed now was a magical weapon.

"Here is where most campers get claimed, at this time, because so many campers are here, and it'll be easier for word to get around," Percy explained.

I sat down, Percy on one side, Toryn on the other. Percy put his arm around Annabeth, and sang along. Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding light.

Toryn suddenly reappeared in the center of the campfire place. A glowing sign appeared above his head. His body started to glow gold. The sign was of a golden bow and arrow crossed with an eighth note.

"What's that?" I hissed to Percy.

"That's the sign of Apollo. Toryn's a son of Apollo," he whispered back to me.

Once again, the centaur, Chiron, knelt down, which I might add was interesting being half horse. Percy motioned for all of us to do the same.

"All hail Toryn Cappella, son of Apollo, god of medicine, music, and poetry, " he called.

After that was over with, Toryn reappeared back next to me. He looked extremely uncomfortable, but looked a lot more at ease. Strange that he was a son of Apollo - Percy said that they loved attention.

"At least I don't have to sleep in the Hermes cabin now," he whispered to me while the camp was singing "This Land is Minos' Land".

"What, was our presence unbearable? C'mon, we only pranked you twice…" The Stolls complained, plopping down next to us.

Toryn rolled his eyes and sarcastically said, "Yeah, I really enjoyed attempting to scrub the permanent marker graffiti off of my bed posts and having to scrape off the remains of my first Camp Half-Blood T-shirt because of the super glue you guys pasted onto the inside of it."

"You enjoyed doing that? Aww, thanks! We thought hard on those pranks. Glad to know you enjoyed being the victim! We'll have to remember to prank you more often!" Connor said sincerely, being the clueless guy he was.

"No, bro, he was being sarcastic. Duh. Wait… uh… er… yeah, I'm fairly sure that he was being sarcastic. You were being sarcastic, right?" Travis smartly asked.

"Ya think?" Toryn replied, hoping that they would take the hint.

"Yeah, I think so." Travis said, sounding distant as if he was contemplating the answer.

Toryn facepalmed and sighed. "No, duh!"

Connor wasn't following this at all. "So...you weren't being sarcastic?"

I was enjoying this quite a bit. The only thing missing was the popcorn and a camera. Toryn sensed my amusement and glared. After a few moments his glare melted into a helpless look. "A little help here?"

I shook my head. This was too much fun to watch.

Toryn frowned, "Some friend you are." I know they shouldn't have, but his words felt like they pierced my heart. Hurt must've shown on my face, because his eyes widened and he quickly said, "No, I didn't mean-"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand, and covered up my feelings with a light laugh. "S'okay." I then turned to the Stoll brothers and decided to help Toryn out a bit. "Guys, what Toryn is trying to say is that he was being sarcastic. Got that? He was being sarcastic. In other words, he doesn't want anymore pranks from you guys." Toryn flashed me a grateful and apologetic smile. I didn't smile back. I think I made the situation worse, because the Stoll brothers' expression screamed 'hurt'. Oops.

A few arguments and begs for forgiveness later, we were finally able to go to sleep. I showered and changed, and realized that Chiron had gotten the harpies to change the beds. My bed looked exactly like Percy's, but it was a bit smaller. Fits, he's seventeen while I'm fourteen.

As I curled up into a little ball (a habit of mine when I'm tired), I whispered to my brother, "G'night, Percy."

He murmured back, already half asleep, "G'night. Lights out."

At his word, the lights in the cabin turned off, enveloping us in a comfortable darkness. I sighed contently and surrendered my conscience to the world of dreams. First day at Camp Half-blood, done. I think I might actually be beginning to believe in this Greek mythological stuff. I'm crazy.

* * *

**Platinum: This chappies finished! I didn't really do anything this chapter. I was trying to finish my ELA (Aqua: FYI, this is English/Language Arts :) You're welcome.) project, write a story/poem. It's like eleven pages long! Sorry for no updates. We've been caught up with school. Hopefully none tomorrow. Ice rain to the rescue! Thanks to Jack Frost!**

**Nike: Ikr! This was a collab with acts29forchrist, she did a lot of the writing, and collab was her idea. This is fun! I contributed a lot, including the Stoll brothers scene. Review, please! Cookie! (::)**

**Aqua: AHEM! HELLO? ME TOO! HI! Sorry, too much caps lock. But I did contribute a lot. acts29forchrist, wanna say anything? I say I think we all did pretty good.**

**Platinum: (::) (::) (::) Btw, I created a new story on The Aurum Writers account! Check it out! (Oneshot.)**

**Acts29: Hey! I get to close! Anyways yes, I am really enjoying how this turned out. I don't think this could have been as good as it is without you guys. I just wrote the storyline basically. You guys have the smart Percy Jackson technical skills. (Aqua: Thanks! But without your idea, it would've gone POOF! So, yeah, it's okay for you to take some credit :P) (I've been planning this fan fiction for two years now. I'm just glad to bring it to life.)**

**Aqua: I don't think you'll get to close! Anyways, bye! (::) *cannonballs off an airplane into a cookie-cano***

**Acts29: -sticks tongue out- No! I'm closing! Laters! (::)**

**Nike: Wait! Aqua, CANO was a Canadian progressive rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, so… is it canoe you're trying to say? Huh, looks like I'm closing! Anyways, Bye! (::) Please review!**

**Acts29: I'M CLOSING! Bye! We'd love to hear your thoughts on this! REVIEW!**


	2. I don't need you

**Disclaimer: All though we want to own the Percy Jackson series, we don't. Or Flappy Bird. Or the song called "Witches' Brew". Or the Harry Potter series. (Aww…) But we do own Aleah and Toryn! (Yay!) And yes, they are OC's.**

**Acts29: I made the OC's!**

**Nike: Btw, Aleah's last name roughly means "ocean", and Toryn's last name sorta means "music". Creative of me, right?**

**Acts29: Yeah, I loved their last names**

**Aqua: Meh. I chose Toryn's dad. :D**

**Nike: High-five! *high-fives Aqua***

* * *

**~Toryn~**

"DUDE - YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" I woke up to a stranger shouting into my ear and roughly shaking my shoulder.

This guy knows no mercy. I thought angrily, sitting up slowly and rubbing my eyes. "What do you want?" I asked the person who had rudely woken me up, annoyed.

"It's this app, and it's called… wait for it… wait for it… FLAPPY BIRD!"

I groaned. It was all the rage at my old school. Now, here? Really?

"Dude, that's lame," I groaned again. "It's a rip-off of Mario."

The stranger's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Really?! How?!"

Are all of Apollo's kids - besides me - this dense? I wondered. "You know, the green pipes and stuff. The design. The background. Everything really, except for the objective. Which is even lamer than Mario, I might add. And that, is a feat in itself."

"Dude, I know, but it's addicting."

"No it's not. I got magic… alakazamakazoo!"

"What?"

"Dude! You haven't heard of that song? Witches' Brew? You missed out on your whole childhood!" I am amazed. Truly, and sincerely amazed. So he's heard of Flappy Bird, but not Witches' Brew? Witches' Brew is a song for gods' sake! Shouldn't Apollo's children know all songs? Apparently not.

"One word. Random. That describes you, newbie. I can't switch subjects that fast. Sheesh. Of course I've heard of Witches' Brew."

"Oh, really? Then what's the first verse?"

"Uh… um… er… I got magic, alakazamakazoo!... Right?"

"Dude, you're a liar. It's not that. It's,

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs too,

Stir them in my witches' brew,

I got magic,

Alakazamakazoo!"

"So, I was right!"

Oh my gods. I was sick of this guy. "What's your name?"

"Dudley."

"Last name?"

"Dursley."

That makes sense. So this is that idiotic kid from Harry Potter. Now that I think about it, he fits the description. Fat, round body, almost no neck, and looks like a pig. I decide to test my theory. "So, do you happen to know about Harry Potter?"

"Nope!" He replied cheerfully.

"Uh… have you read the Harry Potter series?"

"Nope! Dude, I've got Flappy Bird to play! Do you think that I have time to sit around and read books?"

He just insulted my whole existence. No time to read books?! I swallowed my anger with a lot of effort and counted to ten...thousand. By that time, I was somewhere near somewhere near somewhere near calm. Sort of. I tried to keep my words sounding even and steady. Obviously, didn't do great.

"So, you're Dudley Dursley, and you've never even heard of Harry Potter?!"

"Uh… no?"

"This. Is. The. Weirdest. Day. Of. My. Life. And. It. Has. Barely. Begun."

"Dude!"

"Gods, what now?!"

"You just made me mess up before I beat my incredibly high score!"

"And what is that?"

"One!"

I don't have time for this...

* * *

**~Aleah~**

Something was shaking me awake.

"Aleah! Time to wake up! Or you'll miss breakfast! And lunch!"

I mumbled something like, "Jmfsshew."

"Aleah! WAKE UP!"

I jumped, coming face-to-face with Toryn. I blushed and apologized.

"It's time for breakfast. Hurry up, shower, and get dressed!" He seemed more annoyed than usual. I looked at him, and asked for an answer.

"Tell you later," he replied, walking out of Cabin Three.

By the time I was out, the entire camp was at their tables, eating waffles, pancakes, and all of that good stuff.

Percy and Annabeth already sat at our table. They were talking. Toryn was at the Apollo table. My eyes automatically skimmed his table, taking note of its occupants. All of them had a surfer's body, an athletic build, sun-kissed hair, and blue eyes. Except for the boy sitting farthest away from Toryn. This boy was the opposite of his fellow half-siblings. On the contrary, this boy was very round, especially around the middle, and had a very pig-like appearance. I had to squint in order to even see a neck. The boy participated in not a single conversation, and had his phone out, tapping away. On Flappy Bird. Lame.

I turned my attention away from him and went to go sit with Percy and Annabeth at Poseidon's table. "Hey guys!" I said to them, plopping down across from them.

They stopped talking to each other and greeted at me. "Hey, sis! I was wondering when you would come for breakfast!"

"Hi, Aleah! After you finish eating, Chiron said that we are allowed to show you and Toryn around camp." Annabeth looked cheerful.

"M'kay!" My response was muffled because of the food I had stuffed into my mouth.

Annabeth smiled and continued to eat her share of food. Wait a minute...I swallowed and asked a question that had been nagging me for a while. "Annabeth, why aren't you sitting at the Athena table?" It came out a little harsher than I meant for it to be. "Sorry, just curious."

Annabeth laughed and shook her head, "No, it's fine. I'm allowed to sit with Percy because we have been through a lot together." I wanted to ask what, but I figured that was a story for another time, so I nodded my head and continued to eat.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After I finished eating, we got up from our table and called Toryn over. After he joined, our little quartet set off.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"And that, is Camp Half-Blood. your new home." Percy concluded with a smile. "You guys' share of chores will begin next week. Have fun with those! But for now, roam around freely. Remember to stay inside of the borders of camp and follow Chiron's orders." He said cheerfully, wrapping his arm around Annabeth's waist. The couple waved us off, and walked back to the Big House.

"Did it ever occur to you that because of Griffon we are being held hostages in some place for demigods?!" I hissed to Toryn, quiet enough so that no one else could here.

"Hey, it's not my fault," Toryn said defensively.

"Does none of this bother you?" I asked gesturing to the camp. "They're not telling us everything. Toryn, they have secrets inside of their secrets. I want the whole story. The truth. Don't you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, Aleah. They seem nice enough."

"That's the point. Why do they act like everything is okay? Why does everyone act like it's all okay? If it was okay, then why does everyone need a weapon? Why do we need training?" My voice trailed off.

"I don't know, okay? Aleah, why are you being so suspicious? We finally found where we actually belong, somehow. At least we have a family!" He stormed away.

I thought about his words. It was true… Toryn did have a family, even though part of it was extremely dense. Come to think of it, I felt a lot more relaxed. I didn't have to worry about Toryn, and whether or not he was okay. It might sound mean, but I felt like I could spend more time with myself and make other friends.

Also, I remembered what Annabeth said. We've been through a lot together…

What were their expressions on my first day? They seemed particularly protective, like they'd been through a lot, and didn't want to talk about it. I remembered when Toryn lost his mother. They had almost the same expression on their faces - like they didn't want to talk about it, but a lot more relaxed. Like they'd gotten over it. I wondered… is this the place where Toryn can finally be repaired? Maybe I was a little harsh…

* * *

**~Toryn~**

My eyesight was tinted red with frustration. Aleah… how could she not understand? Ever since she met Griffon, her demeanor has changed. What happened to the kind, sweet, and caring Aleah I used to know? Why did she leave and put the cold, hurtful, and questioning Aleah in her place? Something's happened… I know something did. Before I could dwell on my thoughts any longer, something wet and slimy hit me in the face. I licked some of the substance off of my face, to see what it was…

It was… pie?

"WHAT THE -" I started to yell.

Suddenly, I heard laughing behind me. I whirled around and grabbed the Stoll brothers.

Their eyes widened. "Oh my gods, sorry! We meant to hit Katie behind you!"

I turned around. No one was there.

"YOU -" I screamed.

"Gotcha!" They started laughing.

Furiously, I counted to twenty. Million. Again. Afterwards, I quickly grabbed a basketball that had randomly rolled towards me, and threw it at them. It hit with amazing accuracy. Somehow, it exploded into neon yellow paint, and splattered them with it. I was the only place where it didn't fall onto.

"Good job, you got them back," a voice said approvingly. I turned around again.

"Aleah?" My voice was icy. "What do you want?"

"I want to say… I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, and I thought it over. I -" she began.

"You what? You're the one who's changed. You're not nice anymore. You're judging the camp. Just because it's crazy doesn't mean it's not true!"

"I changed? I'm not the one who decided to close up and entirely ignore my best friend because my mom died! I'm not the one who acted like their best friend was a random stranger on a street!"

My mouth opened and closed like a fish. No words would come out. Sadly for me, Aleah was just gaining steam.

"Oh, so I'm the one who's changed now? Who do you think you are? I haven't changed. I was just following in suit. I was trying to protect you. You have been acting like a complete stranger. You're different. Colder. Less alert. Ready to take in anything as the truth. Too gullible. Very passive. Arrogant. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that hurtful? The Toryn I used to know was quirky, corny, and random. He was cute, sweet, and nice. He would actually stand up for himself. He wasn't depressed, hurt, and mean. Not accusing, annoying, and rude. Not like you're acting like right now! Who are you and what have you done with Toryn Cappella?!" She scoffed.

I stared at her in a shocked trance, the pieces of pie on my face long forgotten. I'll admit. Her words stung. A lot. I know that I was selfish, rude, and mean. I know that I ignored her for half my life so far, ever since my mom died. I've been trying to change my ways, really, I have, but Aleah's words were the needles that deflated my balloon of self esteem.

Who am I kidding? Time has molded me into the cold and selfish jerk I am today. I can't change anymore. I'm too broken in the inside. The pieces of my heart have blown away, and scattered in the wind. It's impossible now to put them back together. I'm now just the heartless shell my broken pieces have left behind.

Well, that was deep. I know. I can do depressing, I can do humor. Anything, really. Except for fluff. I don't do fluff. Where are my thoughts taking me now? And when did I get so good at being depressing? I found myself wondering. Are my hormones acting up? Is this what the teenager books mean by 'mood swings'?

I decided, nope. More like depression. I lost my mom and my best friend. Now I didn't have anyone to confide in. The only thing I could do was apologize. But it's too soon to apologize. As she had said before, I was too passive. So maybe… in order to stand up for myself, I shouldn't give in and apologize first? I've got it! I'll show her that I don't need her. That I'm choosing to let her go. That'll show her. I'm just gonna wait and see how long it takes for her to cave in and apologize.

* * *

**~Aleah~**

"Fine, I don't care. Be who you want - don't hang around me. If I'm that bad, why would you care?" I was shocked by his next words. My jaw dropped. I turned around to see his eyes harden.

"Fine! I'm done." I turned on my heel and stormed away.

I will not cave in. I will not apologize. I'm living at a whole camp here. Plenty of other people could be my best friend. I was done with that person - the person who was just a shell of my best friend. I had a family. I had people who were kind. I had a brother. I had a whole life here. I ran back to my cabin and stared at the ceiling.

He will never see me cry.

* * *

**Aqua: That was hard to write. Really. So angsty…**

**Nike: Yeah. I'm not very good at writing sad fics. Did you like my figurative language?**

**Aqua: And yet, you're good at writing gory stuff. Well, then.**

**Nike: Awww...and we started this chappie so funny and light-hearted.**

**Aqua: Things can change. Acts29, wanna say anything?**

**Acts29: LOVED IT! Please Review!**


	3. I'm sorry

**Disclaimer: Ever wanted to own something a lot? Us too. We still don't own PJO, though. (Aqua: *sigh*)**

**But we do own Toryn and Aleah!**

**(Acts29: Yay!)**

* * *

**~Toryn~**

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MAKE-UP?! You broke up with Aleah?!" The entire Aphrodite cabin cried. "You guys are almost as cute as Percy and Annabeth! This is almost as bad as forgetting to put on makeup in the morning!"

"For the last time, guys, we were not together. Got it?" I groaned. How did they even find out about this?

"That's what they all say," A girl looked at me knowingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Besides, where in the world did you guys get this information?" I asked.

"Oh, we sent some people to follow you guys," another girl called out casually, like it was perfectly normal to send some people to stalk you and your ex-best friend.

"Okay, then… I'm… going back to my cabin?..." I looked at them nervously.

"NO. You will not go until you promise that you'll apologize to Aleah!"

"No. I have something to prove. Good day, and goodbye." I tilted down my imaginary hat and walked away. I didn't get very far.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by a bunch of Aphrodite girls. They all started crying. "No!"

I ran past them and went into my cabin. I put a charm on the door that wouldn't allow anyone from Aphrodite's cabin to come in. If they so much as tried to open it, sunlight would blind them for a few seconds. I patted myself on the back. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face to clean off the remnants of pie on my face. After I finished cleaning my face, I dried it off with a towel and went to sit on my bed. I needed some time to think. We have never harshly fought with each other before. This was different. Worse. The tension between us was stronger than ever.

* * *

**~Aleah~**

I walked back slowly, taking my time. I saw Toryn sprinting for his life to his cabin. He looked annoyed and worried. Serves him right.

I mentally slapped myself for being so stupid. Why? You just lost your best friend. Now you're alone.

Shut up, I told myself. It wasn't my fault Toryn's turned into a selfish, moody, JERK!

Well, you egged him on, the annoying and wrong side of my conscience retorted back. And he did lose his mother.

Oh my gods. This was driving me crazy. I needed to clear my mind.

"Hey, Percy," I called out to my new brother.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"D'you think you could help me find a magic weapon?"

He grinned from ear to ear."Why didn't you say so before? C'mon, let's go to the Hephaestus cabin."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

I stared at each magical item. So. Confusing. I didn't know which one would suit me. Small ones, large, fat ones, shields, daggers, swords… I could go on forever. I sighed, thinking that I would never find a magical item. Then something shiny caught my eye. I went over to a dusty corner, looking for the source of that shine. It was a dagger.

I picked up the blade, carefully examining it. It had a slight blue-green hue to the metal of the blade. All throughout the blade was a wave pattern etched in. The hilt had wire wrapped around it and two rounded pieces of metal curving upward. Turning it over carefully, I saw a knob on the other side. Pressing it towards the blade, I waited for something to happen. Two blade arms sprung out on the side.

Percy looked surprised. "I've never seen that before. Or heard of it."

A boy with an impish face came over and said, "It's an awesomesauce device that we recently found in Bunker Nine. Don't know how it got there. We asked Chiron to inspect it, and he said that it's called Cantaloupe."

Percy's eyes widened. "Seriously, Leo?"

"Naw, just kidding. It's called Underwater Cantaloupe."

Percy scratched his head in confusion. "What's the difference?"

Leo's eyes widened and he burst into a series of guffaws. "You're really that gullible?! No wonder Annabeth calls you Seaweed Brain!"

Percy pouted. "Not you too!"

I examined the waves on the blade. There was a name etched into them. λεπίδα τρίαινα.

Somehow, I was able to read what it said. The meaning of the name appeared into my mind effortlessly. Trident Blade. I liked it. I heard hooves approaching behind me.

"Hey, Chiron! Wassup?" Percy greeted.

Chiron rolled his eyes. "Percy, don't you have chores to be doing right now?"

"Maybe…?"

"Percy…"

"Hey, what chore is more important than getting my little sister a magical weapon that probably will save her life?" Percy whined.

"Good point. But as you can see, she now has her weapon. Go do your chores." Chiron would not give in to Percy's antics. "Goodbye, Percy." He said sternly, steering Percy out of the forges.

After Percy left, he turned towards me and began to speak. "Before you gain ownership of the blade, you'll need to know the origin and history of the blade. It is old, and therefore has seen many things. Each blade has a purpose. Like Percy's weapon -"

"Riptide -" I noted.

"Yes, it has a long, sad past. Yours does too. It was forged during the Renaissance era by a mortal blacksmith. Over the centuries, children of Hephaestus have been adding to it and advancing it to bring the materials up to date. It's the reason why this blade has lasted so long. The same way it has been improved over the eras, it has been past down from owner to owner. The true purpose of the blade has become lost in the minds of the warriors. In other words, they thought the blade existed for a more barbaric reason, but another reason for its existence is also known. To kill, it uses an attack technique called Triple Torture. You see how there are three blades? One of the blades - the one in the middle - is always out. You stab your opponent with it to insert the blade into their body. Then you press the little notch right there to bring the other two blades out. They'll attach themselves to the opponent as well. The two blades have poison inserted into them. When they attack the opponent, the poison will be injected into their body. That way, if the blow doesn't kill them, the poison will. Always use that attack only as a last resort. The poison is limited and extremely hard to get. There's no cure to the poison, so it is certain to kill. You have to be extremely careful when using it on your enemy. You have to be positive that you want them dead. Once you use the attack, there's no turning back. The poison is only injected if your middle blade is plunged into the flesh of your opponent. Any questions so far? I know that was a lot to process. There's more."

"Yes. How will I know if I'm running out of poison uses?"

"Excellent question. See how the metal of the blade is tinted green-blue? When you're running out of poison, the blade's tint will turn red-orange. When it's completely out of poison, the blade will lose it's tint entirely. It's a blade that's prettier with a tint, so please don't use all of it's poison."

"You said that each weapon has a purpose. What's this one's purpose?"

"Ah, you are very attentive to details. If you weren't already a daughter of Poseidon, I would've pegged you as a child of Athena. Yes, you are correct. This blade does have a purpose for being made, mostly for last resort. If a foe attacks you with his blade, you can parry or block it like a normal dagger."

"What makes it different from a normal dagger then? The purpose is the same." I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at Chiron.

"The double blades; they can be triggered to catch an attacking rapier in between the blades."

"Rapier?"

"Ah yes. You see this blade was conceptualized in the time of the Renaissance, when rapiers were more common than before. The design for catching was for rapiers."

"Oh, I see… but… how would the two blades be useful now? Nobody uses rapiers anymore."

Chiron just chuckled and winked. "My dear, you'll be surprised. Come to me if you have anymore questions. Good luck with your new weapon." He trotted out of the forges before I had time to reply. I examined my new accessory, deep in thought.

"I'm still here, you know." Leo said over my shoulder. I'll admit, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Leo!"

"Awww...am I really that easy to forget about? Anyways, what Chiron was hinting at is that he wants you to practice using the weapon. Get used to the weight, and all that good stuff." He steered me out of the forges. The sudden brightness blinded me for a few seconds. I blinked rapidly to get rid of the sun spots. "Thanks for visiting and have a nice day!" He returned to the forges, and disappeared into its darkness.

I sighed and headed to the arena. _Might as well get some practice in…_

* * *

**~Toryn~**

I hadn't talked to Aleah for a day now. That's a personal record. I did miss her though...I missed the times before my mother died. When we were arguement-free and carefree. Was she right? Did I really change that much? Maybe...maybe she was right. Maybe I was too arrogant. Maybe it is my fault that she's acting this way towards me.

Maybe I should go apologize to her. That's how it's always been. I'm always the one who goes to apologize, and she always forgave me. This time won't be any different. I reassured myself firmly.

I rushed out of my cabin and didn't notice the crowd of Aphrodite's children that had piled up in front of my cabin's door.

"OW! Would do you think you're doing?! I payed 1,000 drachmas for these ballet flats!"

"Sorry." I muttered, pushing through the crowd, desperate to apologize.

"Wait! Are you, like, going to apologize to Aleah?!"

"Yeah, Now can you please move? I'm in a hurry."

"Nope, not until you promise on the Styx to apologize to Aleah."

"The Styx?"

"Yes, the River Styx. Now promise!"

Another Aphrodite girl with silky black hair turned towards us. "I think you are going too far, Lilac..."

"No I'm not, Twilight!" Lilac snapped back.

"Gods, am I the only sensible Aphrodite girl there is?" Twilight sighed.

"Don't forget me!" Piper ran up. At least, from how Percy described her, that was Piper. She had slightly choppy brown hair, and eyes that seemed to shift colors as she moved. Though she tried to tone it down, she was definitely powerful.

"Look, I'm in a hurry," I said starting to walk on, but then Lilac and Twilight blocked me. Are you kidding me!? I thought to myself. I sighed. "Okay, I promise on the Styx." Then they smiled in approval and let me pass.

"Good luck, Toryn!" Piper yelled at me as I ran towards Cabin Three. She did seem nice.

When I got to Aleah's cabin, I was hesitant to knock on her door. I almost jumped out of my pants when Percy came up behind me.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Oh, you're looking for Aleah, well she is not here." Then I heard a sob come behind Percy.

"Seriously, please. Can I come in?" I would've never admitted it, but I was coming close to a nervous breakdown. "Just a couple minutes?"

"Fine, but I swear to all the gods, if you hurt her, I won't show you any mercy." His green eyes have darkened to a dangerous dark green - like the color of a tsunami. A tsunami that would strike with deadly and brutal force.

I nodded nervously and walked into the cabin.

Aleah was sitting there miserably. When she saw me, she tried to hide her tears, but I knew her too well.

"What do you want?" She asked suspiciously.

"I…" How do you say sorry to your best friend after a major argument, that was all your fault?

"You…?"

"I… wannasaysorry…" I mumbled, half to myself.

She looked at me again. "Say what?"

"I want to say sorry…"

"Um… what?

"Okay, I. WANT. TO. SAY. SORRY. FOR. BEING. A. JERK. CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?!" I screamed. Yeah, I overreacted.

Suddenly, she burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked, confused and offended.

"You fell for it!"

"Fell for what?"

Aleah shook her head and laughed into her hands. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure enough to speak understandably. "Oh-my-gods, how was I able to become best friends with such a dense idiot?"

"Hey…" I pouted.

"You look just like Percy when he does that," she replied, laughing.

"Seriously, fell for what?"

"The entire thing was a whole darn prank!"

"Pran- prank?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, a prank, Seaweed Brain."

"Isn't that Percy's nickname?"

"Who said I couldn't use it on you?"

"Wait a minute…"

"What?"

"Um… that's Annabeth's nickname for Percy."

"And…?"

"And Annabeth's Percy's girlfriend."

Her eyes widened in realization. "Um… awk?"

Percy came towards us, laughing.

"You were listening?" Now my eyes were wide.

"Um…duh. The whole thing was my idea," he boasted.

"You planned out my apology?" I was annoyed. For the 2,453,764,134th time today. "Gods, can anyone ever get their nose out of my business?"

"Well, Piper came and told Percy that you were planning on apologizing, so we decided to make things a little more interesting." Aleah said. I noticed that her face no longer looked like she had been crying.

"Weren't you crying earlier?" Sorry, but I had trouble focusing on one topic. My mind just got carried away, as always.

"Aphrodite cabin. Magic. Makeup." Of course. They would be more than happy to help us. Did no one think I was capable of handling myself? I knew how to make my mouth flap up and down with words coming out. Was that not enough? I came to apologize, but they turned it into some game. I didn't want it to be a game, I wanted my friend back. Then again, she was playing around with me, so I guess that meant she wasn't mad at me anymore. Hopefully.

"So… you're not mad, right?"

"Why would I not be mad!" Oops. Why'd I ask such a stupid question? "You were a jerk!"

"I know, and I'm sorry..." But she kept talking.

"And if you even...what?" Aleah stopped, after processing what I had just said.

"I'm sorry for doing what I did."

"You're… sorry?"

"Yeah. Didn't I say that?" Now I'm confused. Wasn't she supposed to be the smart one?

Aleah suddenly ran up to me and hugged me tightly. I noticed Percy slipping out of the cabin while bearing a soft smile on his face. I felt my face burning up. My blush was very noticeable.

Suddenly, at the worst possible time, the Aphrodite cabin burst in. The sounds of camera clicks were able to be heard while the ones who weren't taking photos cooed.

"AWWWWWW! This is so cute! I'm going to cherish this moment forever!"

"I know, right?! This is almost as good as Percabeth!"

"Omigods, Diamond, after you finish taking pictures, hand the camera over to me. I need to get this on camera!"

"No, I'm not gonna hand it over to you! This is a golden moment!"

"Omigods, is it just me, or are they both blushing?" This comment made me blush even more prominently.

"Omigods, yes! Awww, that just makes this scene even cuter!"

I pulled away from Aleah to spare us from further embarrassment. When I saw her face, I saw that she was blushing too. I've got to say, I'm surprised. She didn't know that the Aphrodite cabin was going to barge in?

"Aw, dag-nabbit! I was just about to get in another photo!"

"Oh well, my camera's memory card is already full, anyway," An Aphrodite girl said, trying to look indifferent and failing miserably.

"Okay guys, look at the poor kids! We're embarrassing them! C'mon guys, out, out!" Piper said, trying to spare us at least a dash of dignity. The Aphrodite demigods groaned in complaint but filed out of the Poseidon cabin anyway, as they had to obey their cabin leader. Before they left, each person strained their necks and tried to get one last glimpse of us before Piper closed the door and gave us some privacy.

I sighed gratefully and took a few breaths to get the extra blood out of my head. I wasn't used to blushing so much in a short period of time.

"That was something else," Aleah said after a while.

"You're telling me," I said. Honestly, it felt good to see Aleah smile again. I couldn't remember the last time she had. My fault, I thought. I liked it better when she was happy. Her ocean blue eyes always sparkled. Her black hair was always pulled up in a ponytail with a strand of hair braided into it. Her smile - wait, what am I thinking?!

"Toryn, you face is red," Aleah said. Way to point out the obvious! "Are you getting some sort of reaction?" Reaction?

"Uhh…no?" I replied, feeling my face only get hotter, blushing freely. Aleah grinned her perfect smile.

"You really do have a seaweed-filled brain." I couldn't help but smirk. It was a clever term. I didn't care. I didn't even care that the people from the Aphrodite cabin had taken the pictures. All I cared about was that Aleah and I were finally friends again. That was all that mattered.

* * *

**Acts29: Wooh! That took forever (even though it was a shorter chapter) I'm glad we finished that chappie. Aurum Writers, wanna say something?**

**Nike: That was hard to write. I kept getting sidetracked :/**

**Acts29: Ikr!? I've never really done an argument before, or an apology. They're so...awkward.**

**Nike: Yeah, and if there was an argument, things usually worked out by itself.**

**Aqua: True… or we would just apologize after five minutes - at the most. Was it good? I helped write around a quarter. I was busy with homework :/**

**Nike: The big gigantic paragraph where Chiron was talking took so long...lolz it was so...informational…**

**Acts29: I don't care. I like a good description every now and then.**

**Platinum: The blade that Aleah got is based off of a real thing called the "Trident Blade". Lol. The website we used is, review_casi_ . If you check it out, find the reference. You probably won't get it. :)**

**Acts29: It was a perfect ten. Please Review! Cookies for everyone! (::) x Gazillion**


	4. Plague

~**Toryn**~

Now that that was over with, all we needed to do was find me a magical weapon., according to Aleah. We trudged to the dark, stuffy forges.

Leo was waiting there. "Hello, my fellow demigods, welcome to the awesomest and most fantastic place in the camp! Now, for the tou -"

Percy rolled his eyes. "You know what we're here for. Lead us to the weapons, Valdezio."

Valdezio? I mouthed to Aleah, confused. She rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"C'mon, let's go check out the weapons," Percy started after Leo. Aleah and I followed behind him.

I examined Leo's wide variety of weapons, but nothing stuck out to me. Leo kept picking a random one up, and asking me what I though. Everytime I simply shrugged.

"How about this one?" He asked, holding up a golden sword.

"I dunno," I said indifferently.

"Come on man! You're killing me!" Leo said, setting it down. Then I stopped at something that grabbed my attention. It was a guitar pic. I picked it up.

"What's this?" I asked Leo.

"Oh, that's prototype." Leo said. I studied its design. Intricate patterns flowed over it, but I felt like there was something more to it.

"Where's the guitar to go with it?" I asked.

Leo looked startled. "How did you know there was a guitar?"

"Dunno, just felt it. The pick felt really incomplete, and- GAH! You know what? Forget it."

"Well, then. Here it is." I picked up the guitar he was holding out to me, feeling a tingle go through me.

"We never figured out how to use it or what it does - it just appeared in our weaponry," he explained. "It might be a message from Apo -"

His eyes widened as I strummed a G chord. The guitar was changing, turning lighter, becoming a bow. It was gold, with designs like the ones on the pick. Pictures of suns, music notes, all that stuff.

The pick was also changing. It lengthened, turning into a hollow cylinder. A quiver. Again, it matched the bow.

"Dang… yeah, that's your weapon," Percy broke the awkward silence.

"So, now, all we gotta do is make a couple of arrows! Maybe Imperial gold, to match your bow and quiver…" Leo walked away, muttering to himself.

Everyone stood in silence and waited for someone else to speak. Suddenly, the door burst open and Chiron barged in.

"This is an emergency. Various campers fell unconscious in the arena. We don't know what the cause is. Please help us move them into the infirmary," He said curtly, looking worried.

Aleah and I followed Percy out of the Hephaestus cabin. We ran to the arena, and Annabeth ran towards us, looking worried as ever.

"What happened?" Percy asked her.

"We don't know," she said plainly. "This has never happened before."

"Hey guys! Check this out!" A guy not much older than me shouted. Everyone crowded around him. He pointed at one girl's arm. "Look at her veins." They were glowing green. Then we noticed that all the people who had fallen had the same symptom.

"Nice job, Will. Someone get Chiron," Annabeth said. People continued picking up campers, and taking them to the infirmary. I looked at Aleah for reassurance, but she looked just as frightened as I was.

"What could have done this?" Annabeth asked. No one knew. Not even the Athena or Apollo cabin. Everyone shrugged and shook their heads helplessly.

Annabeth was going to pick up another camper, but froze when she saw her own arm. Her eyes widened, and her face paled rapidly. "Percy," she said softly, and then passed out like the others. Percy managed to catch her before she fell. Her right arm had been infected.

He looked at her grimly and set off towards the infirmary with her in his arms. We followed him because we had no clue what to do exactly. "Annabeth, you're okay; we'll find a cure for this." I heard him tell her over and over again.

* * *

~**Percy**~

Why? Why Annabeth? We needed her. I couldn't figure this out on my own. I wasn't as smart as her.

My hands shook as I slowly put a glass of nectar to Annabeth's mouth. She swallowed with difficulty, and remained unconscious. It seemed that not too long ago, she was right beside me, fighting straw dummies and laughing at my stupidity.

I started shaking and lowered my head to my knees, curling into the fetal position. I couldn't stand seeing Annabeth like this - it was like Tartarus all over again.

Toryn stood staring at us. More like he was figuring out what to do other than looking shocked. Suddenly, he sprinted away. Oh yeah…he was a son of Apollo. Aleah hesitated to follow him, but stayed by my side.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's not your fault," I assured her.

I looked at Annabeth's face. Even unconscious she still looked wise. I wished that I could just wake her up. I almost did, but I think that logic (or the fact that Aleah was standing next to me) told me it wasn't going to make a difference. Who was I kidding. I was being selfish. Annabeth wasn't the only camper infected… but she was the most important one to me.

"Is this safe?" Aleah asked. I turned around to my new sister. I did see my reflection in her. "I mean, it just keeps spreading at random."

"I don't know," I admitted, "but I think we'll be okay."

"How do you know?"

"We've always made it through," I said, almost more to myself. I didn't know if we were going to be okay.

Someone then knocked softly on the door. Aleah opened it, and was a little surprised to see Chiron in a wheelchair.

"Aleah, I need to speak to Percy alone if you don't mind," He said.

"Not at all," Aleah said walking out. She closed the door quietly behind her.

I figured that Chiron had something really important to say if he needed to speak to me alone.

"Um… so… what is it that you want to talk about?" I asked nervously. Chiron looked extremely grim.

"This infection…it has been started deliberately. There was no way that it could have started on its own. Someone wants the camp dead - or one of the campers." I was shocked at Chiron's words.

"Why?" I asked.

"Percy…the world is dark. There is only so much the walls of Camp Half-Blood can protect us from." He explained.

"But why? Why a camper? Who could just create some sort of virus?" I said, starting to get mad at anyone who would try to hurt Annabeth.

"Calm down Percy," Chiron said, sensing my anger.

Immediately, a thought came to my mind. Sickness…I'd heard once that Apollo could cause plagues as well as heal people. Could his children have that power, too?

I thought of Toryn. No way. I saw him with Aleah - they were definitely meant for each other. And I'm the opposite of an Aphrodite kid, so that's saying a lot. Like, a lot a lot. What? I don't know… blame my weird ADHD brain. Toryn definitely was not a suspect. The kid was harmless, but I still thought the idea should be brought up.

"You don't think an Apollo camper could have done it, do you?"

"No," he said, "I don't know where they could have learned to cause a plague." Suddenly Toryn came bursting in. "Sorry to interrupt, but this is urgent. An Apollo camper has gone missing."

"Missing?" Chiron asked.

"Missing, and no trace."

"Who?" I asked, but then Will came in.

"Did you?" Will started gestured to Toryn and then to Chiron and me.

"Not everything," he said.

I watched their exchange in interest. "He didn't what?"

"Um… well… ahem, let's talk about this later," Chiron gave Toryn and Will a pointed look that clearly told them to not keep secrets from him. "Go see how you can help the other sick."

Will then told Toryn to follow him back out.

I did not like what was going on here. A camper running away, Annabeth sick, Camp Half-Blood practically under...what is it called?...quarantine, it was all just too much. I looked back to Annabeth one more time. She let out a small breath. I was not going to let her die. Whoever did this to her was going to pay for it. I swear on the River Styx.

* * *

Acts29: I think this is a good stopping point. I hate writing tragedies, but that's what I get for loving to write suspense.

Aqua: We're just cruel that way. MWAHAHAHAH! Wut?

Acts29: I never said a word

Aqua: Sugar. FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

Acts 29: … yyeeaahh. Bye for now! Please Review! They encourage us to keep writing! For rizles.

Aqua: I'M CLOSING. BYE! (::)

Nike: Thanks for reading! We will not post the next chappie until we get two more reviews. TWO. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Acts29: No. Guess what readers. If you really want to know what happens next we need 3 more reviews, again THREE! 3.0! You are not allowed to see how many other review have been made on this story so far. I wanna know what happens next so GO! Share what's on your mind.


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